


Back to the Future

by Miss_Paws



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Future Fic, a few oc's but not too many and they're more side than anything, characters might be a little ooc but oh well, older Damian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-24 12:24:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10741647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Paws/pseuds/Miss_Paws
Summary: Dick didn't think time travel was possible, but apparently it was, seeing as both him, Tim, and Jason are stuck ten years in the future in some Canadian city where there is a familiar dark skinned, green eyed waiter who works in an old diner. Yeah, check time travel off the list of things that are apparently a thing.





	1. Where in Hell Am I

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! It's my first time writing a story for this and it's been a while since I wrote fan fiction, but oh well. It's not my best, but hopefully it'll get better. Feel free to leave your thoughts on how I can improve! Also, I apologize if any character seems ooc...

Time is a fickle thing to mess around with. You never know what you’re going to end up with, never know what the outcome should be. Messing with time is like putting your hand in a mystery box and not knowing what you’re going to pull out. It could be nothing, or something, you just never know.

Throughout the ages people have messed with the theory of time travel, writing stories of people, aliens, and gods messing around with time. They have even played with the idea of time traveling machines, though no one has really acted out on the idea because no one truly believed that such a thing could ever exist. It was more a Sci-Fi fantasy more than anything else. 

But… what if I told you it was real? What if I told you time travel was possible? Not through a time traveling machine possible, but through a creature that could be classified as an alien, the clichéd ‘Last of His Kind’ type. No one knows about this creature because he stays hidden through the passages created by time. He rarely shows himself, being much more of a shy creature when it comes down to things, but when he does show himself, he doesn’t look like an alien, he rather looks like a young boy around the age of eleven with white blonde hair and indigo eyes that look far older than would be expected in a body so young. Looking into his eyes, though, you can see they’re not normal. A closer look at his irises reveal small numbers dancing around among the indigo depths, but they’re never noticeable, you have to actually look and know what you’re looking for to see the numbers. Those indigo eyes of his watch everything around him with an old calculated movement that’s flawlessly smooth. No detail gets overturned, no detail forgotten as it’s organized on a shelf in a vast mind.

Like every creature, he gets bored over time of having nothing to do, so he likes to play with people. He doesn’t play in a bad way, but more on how a child might do so. He doesn’t choose at random, he selects carefully and for a specific reason. Usually he does so to teach a lesson or make someone realize something they needed help realizing because they haven’t realized it sooner.

This time was no different, and knowing how stubborn the family is, they needed a shove in the right direction, and he was the one who was going to do so.

-.-.

Dick woke with a groan, head feeling like cotton and mouth dry. He pondered if this was just hangover he was experiencing from a night of fun, but a quick run through of last night’s events told him that he hadn’t even had a drip of alcohol.

“Dickie boy, you awake?” someone asked, sounding extremely familiar. The person was shaking his shoulder to try and get his attention. He cracked open a heavy eyelid to see Jason leaning over him with a frown playing on his lips. Jason raised an eyebrow at Dick as he leaned back and away from him once he saw that Dick was finally up.   
That was when Dick realized that he was not in his apartment anymore, or even at the manor. He was in a park in the middle of the night if the light polluted sky was anything to go by and the sleeping hobo who kept muttering in his sleep nearby. It was even quite cold, too. He could see his breath fogging up in front of his face every time he exhaled, the small wisps of steam rolling from his lips and disappearing inches above his face. There were small piles of snow here and there, mostly against the curbs and alongside of trees, most of it being brown slush. Dick definitely was not dressed for the weather with his light jacket that did nothing to protect him from the cold winter winds.

Dick sat up on the park bench he was laying on, rubbing the back of his aching neck as he looked around in confusion. He didn’t recognize the park from any of the ones he’s been to, or even the ones he’s seen around Gotham and Bludhaven. Not even the buildings looked familiar. 

“Where are we?” he asked, looking back at Jason who shrugged as he took a seat next to him. Jason fumbled around in the pocket of his leather jacket, fishing out a pack of cigarettes, taking one out and lighting it between his lips.

“Who knows? Replacement is trying to figure out as we speak.” Jason told him around his cigarette, taking a long drag from it and letting the smoke blow from his lips slowly. Dick looked ahead of him, feeling sluggish as he tilted his head, trying to connect the dots faster than his mind was letting him.

“Tim’s here?” he asked slowly, turning to look at Jason even though the answer was quite obvious. Jason nodded with his head tilted back to star up at the night sky just as Tim came running into view with a soggy newspaper in hand, a worried and confused look on his face.

“Whaddya’ find?” Jason asked him without looking up, deciding not to answer Dick’s question. Tim stopped right in front of them, slightly out of breath, and pointed at the date printed on the newspaper.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto.” he said dryly without an ounce of humor. “We’re in some city in Canada, but that’s not the weirdest thing. It’s March 3rd, 2027, ten years into the future.” He jabbed towards the date once more, gaining both Jason’s and Dick’s attention. Dick reached out to take the newspaper as he stared at the date in confusion. “I thought it was a misprint, because sometimes that happens with the really cheap papers, but I looked through all of them and they said the same things. I even looked through the magazines, but they had the same date, too. I even asked a few people and got some weird looks, but all they’re answers were the same. March 3rd, 2027.” he continued when he saw both Dick’s and Jason’s skeptical looks.

“2027?” Dick mumbled to himself, scanning the headlines to double look and see if Tim didn’t miss anything. The more he looked at the paper and the unfamiliar names, the more his growing suspicions were confirmed. They were definitely not in Kansas anymore.

“Not only that,” Tim started, frustration shown clearly on his face as he went on. “Our coms and phones no longer work. I’ve tried. There’s no way to contact anyone. The only thing we can do is to see what time it is and maybe play chess, but that’s it.” Tim ran a tired hand through his hair, looking far more tired than Dick remembered last seeing him.

“So…” Jason drawled in amusement. “You tellin’ me we’re time travelers?” he asked, glancing back to the newspaper Dick now had set down next to him on the bench. 

“Seems like it.” Dick sighed, leaning back against the back of the park bench. 

“Always wanted to be Marty McFly some way or another, but more in the sense of having a hover board and not the actual ‘go to the future’ way. Oh, well, beggars can’t be choosers.” Jason shrugged with a slight smirk playing at his lips.

Dick ran a hand through his hair as he stared up at the night sky, wondering how in hell were they going to contact anyone they knew and get them out of this mess they were rightly in. It’s ten years in the future and their friend’s numbers have most likely changed through the years, and there’s no telling where people are now-n-days. They were in a mess that Dick had no idea how to get out of, or even began thinking on how to get out of.

“Strangely,” Tim spoke up, interrupting Dick’s thoughts. “Our cash has been switched out to match the currency, so we weren’t just dropped here without anything but the clothes on our backs, thankfully. We at least have some means of survival.” Jason snorted, taking another drag from his cigarette.

“Oh, thank God, I was worried about the money more than being stuck in the future.” He rolled his eyes sarcastically, Tim glaring at him in annoyance. Before Tim could say anything back at Jason, Dick jumped in, not wanting the two to get in an argument when they still needed to find out where in hell they are.

“What was the last thing you guys remember?” Dick asked, drawing their attention back to what was important. Tim and Jason both shared a look as they thought back to before they woke up in the middle of a park in some Canadian city. “I had just gotten off patrol and went to bed in my apartment.” Dick said, summarizing the last thing he remembered.

“I had just finished some long overdue paper work and fell asleep on the couch watching Mean Girls.” Tim confessed, Jason snorting around the cigarette dangling from his lips. Tim chose to ignore him in favor of looking at the mumbling hobo a few park benches away as he tossed his arms up in the air wildly as he slept. 

“It was my day off so I was watching my day off show, Gossip Girl.” Jason said as he, too, took interest in the hobo a few park benches away.

“Oh, Gossip Girl is better than Mean Girls? Is that what you’re saying? ‘Cause that’s what I’m getting.” 

“I never said that.”

“You implied it.”

“Did I?”

“Yes, yes you did.”

“Well, maybe you should start watching something with quality for once, shouldn’t you?”

“Gossip Girl has no quality. If anything, Gossip Girl has quantity. Mean Girls is the one with quality.”

“Do you really want to fi—”

“Guys!” Dick suddenly cut in, getting annoyed with their bickering and having to put a stop to it seeing as Jason had stood up to most likely punch Tim in the face. “Seriously? Right now is not the time to argue if Regina George is better than Blair Waldorf. We have more pressing matters at hand.” Dick sighed in exasperation as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“You’re right, what’s more pressing is the fact that Jason is wearing sweatpants and it’s not even Friday. He can no longer sit with us anymore.” Tim smiled, crossing his arms. Dick groaned, slumping dramatically against the back of the park bench.

“Hey, my ass looks good in these, thank you very much.”

“Guys!” Dick groaned, feeling his patience running thin.

“Fine, but if we’re going to figure out how in hell we got here and how in hell we’re getting out of here, can we at least do it over food? It’s freezing out here and I’m starving.” Jason grumbled, pleasing Dick in the fact that at least someone is at least making some attempt to get back on track. It might not be the person he expected to do so, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“I think I saw an old diner back down that way when I went to find the newspaper.” Tim supplied, pointing off in a direction away from the park. Jason didn’t need to be told twice as he tossed his cigarette on the ground and nudged it out with his toe.

“Led the way, Replacement.” he said with a flourish of his arms that made Tim roll his eyes, but concede anyway.

It didn’t take long for them to find the old diner that was dubbed Gina’s Place. It had obviously been around for more than thirty years by the looks of it and was obviously loved if the almost full dining room was anything to go by.

A bell sounded above them as they walked in, finding a booth near the L shaped counter that looked right into the open kitchen. 

“Hello, my name is Annie and I’ll be your server. Is there anything that I can start you guys off with?” a young bleached blonde waitress asked, notepad ready to take down their drink order. They each listed off their drinks, Annie bounding off once they were done to go fetch their drinks.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Dick staring out the window while Jason colored on the children’s paper menu he asked for from Annie. Tim was staring off into the diner, trying to find any differences ten years in the future would have when he noticed something.

“Hey,” he said, gathering the two older men’s attention. “Doesn’t that waiter over there look familiar to you?” He pointed off to said waiter that was serving a family of five. He was average height with a slim, but muscular build. He had black spiky hair that looked vaguely familiar with bright green eyes and dark tanned skin. He was wearing a long navy shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and a white waist apron over his jeans. He was smiling at the family as the dad told a corny joke, laughing along with them.

Dick squinted his eyes at him, trying to place him somewhere.

“Yeah…” he muttered. “He almost looks like—”

“Damian.” Jason cut in, finishing what Dick was going to say.


	2. Demetrius Whitmore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's with Damian's fake name?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on my phone at work so it's probably not going to be the best, but next chapter will be written on my computer hopefully where it'll be written better (hopefully). Anyway, hope you enjoy and sorry again if they're ooc!

"Holy shit." Dick breathed. "That is Damian." He still couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him. His little ten-year-old brother no longer looked ten-years-old. He now looked like an adult that no longer had childhood clinging to his cheeks. Dick didn't know if he was upset by the fact his brother no longer looked adorably cute, or the fact that they're in the future with no means of getting home. Either way, this Damian looked a whole lot friendlier then his. And he was offended.

"Why the hell is he in Canada?" Jason asked, screwing his face up in confusion. "Who the hell ever wants to move to Canada? And why the hell is he working in a cheap ass diner? Bruce is loaded." Jason pointed out, waving his hand about as he spoke.

"You're right..." Dick trailed off, watching as future Damian laughed one last time before moving behind the counter to fulfil the family's order.

"Are we even sure that's the demon brat? He looks way too happy and he laughed at that family. He laughed! We can't be too sure, I mean, ten years is a long time and people can change, but they can't change that much." Tim pointed out just as the waitress came back over with a tray carrying their drinks.

"Well, there's one way to find out." Jason said, leaning back in his chair as the waitress reached their table. He flashed her a grin as she laid their drinks out in front of them, leaning forward to catch her eye. "Annie, is it?" he asked her, taking a swig from his beer. The waitress nodded and replied with a chirpy 'yes!' as she tucked a hair behind her ear. "I have a quick question, if ya' don't mind, of course." he tells her, laying on his 'charm'.

"What is it?" she asked, hugging the tray to her as she waited for him to ask his question.

"That waiter over there in the navy shirt? He sure looks familiar to me, I think I might know him for somewhere, but I can't quiet place him." He looked frustrated at the thought, playing his features out to the young waitress. "Can you please remind me of his name?" he turned to her and offered her a charming smile. Annie smiled back at him, looking behind her at the said waiter.

"That's Demetrius Whitmore, but we call him Deema." she told him. "He's a sweetheart, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew him." she told him with an understanding nod. Jason smiled at her.

"Ah, Deema, he sounds even more familiar now." He nodded. "Do you mind if you ask him to come on over here? I want to see if I'm crazy or not." He laughed a little, as Annie nodded her head.

"Sure! It'll just be a moment." she told him, before bouncing off to get him.

"Brat thinks he's smart going with Shakespeare names, but his initials are still the same." Jason said once she was gone, taking another swig from his beer, smile disappearing from his face.

"I'm not sure it's him." Tim said after a pause. "I mean, Deema? Come on, he just about bites Dick's hand off every time he even attempts to call him Dami." he pointed out. "This is probably some kid who looks like Damian, probably even has the same weird scar as him, but it can't be. There's too many differences." Tim waved his hand out in front of his face in a dismissive gesture, shaking his head as he did so.

"We cannot be too sure." Dick said sceptically. "It might be him." 

"Hi, I'm Deema, can I help you?" They looked up at the voice, coming face to face with achingly familiar bright green eyes. 

"Hi, Deema, you look very familiar." Jason said, leaning forward. 

"I do?" he asked, head tilted just slightly to the side in question.

"Yes. I'm just wondering, but have you been to Gotham lately?" Something flashed in those green eyes as he straightened up just slightly, too slight for the normal eye to see, but just enough for someone with trained eyes to notice.

"Not that a believe so." he replied a little stiffly. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no real reason." Jason sighed, leaning back in his chair with a slight smirk playing on his lips. "I was just wondering if you've seen robins down there around this time of year." Realisation flashed quickly over his face as he frowned, eyes narrowed at Jason.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" He hissed, confirming their suspicions about who he is.

"That's what we want to know." Dick said, frowning at the responds Damian gave them.

"What do mean?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed together even more in confusion.

"Well," Tim started. "In Jason's words, not mine, we're playing a 'Marty McFly'." Tim rolled his eyes as he put his hands up in air quotes. Damian looked at them, green eyes flashing with something they couldn't place.

"What do you mean?"

"What he means is," Dick said, flashing Tim and Jason a look. "One moment, we're asleep in our beds, and the next we wake up on a park bench ten years in the future with no explanation as to why." he explained, running a hand through his hair. "We don't even know how to begin on figuring out how to get back to our present." Dick sighed. Damian looked surprised, standing there for a few seconds as he assessed each one of them, looking to see if they were playing a joke on him. He relaxed just slightly when he found whatever he was looking for in them.

"Figures. Drake's hair should be longer and Jason should have a scar on his right cheek from a fight with Poison Ivy a few years back." he said, gesturing to them lamely as he said their names. He sighed long and suffering before he looked over at the clock behind the counter. "Listen, I have to get back to work or Mrs. Gina will chew my ear off. I get off at eleven, we can talk then." And before anyone could say anything, Damian spun around on his heals and walked away. 

Dick frowned, staring out the window and looking out at the dark Canadian city streets as he thought.

"I have a feeling this night is going to be a long one." he said gruffly. Jason didn't answer, only drowned the last of his beer and flag down the waitress for another.  
Tim nodded in agreement, looking at the future Damian from the corner of his eyes and cataloging the differences between the one he knew and this one.

"You can say that again."

Eleven came by slow for them, and by that time the diner was empty, all except for future Damian and an old woman sitting on a stool with a permanent scowl and squinted eyes. Jason was nursing his fourth beer, Dick doodling on his seventh child placemat, and Tim was just about asleep in his chair when Damian surprised them by coming by to their table in a leather bike jacket and black helmet held in the crook of his arm, apron gone from around his waist.

"Let's go." he said, jarring their attention to him. Tim startled a little in his seat, blinking blearily up at Damian as he stood up, drowning the last of his water.

"Where are we going?" Tim asked as they followed Damian out of the diner.

"My apartment. I'll have to get you guys a taxi because I only have a bike." he told them, standing on the side of the curb as he hailed a cab over. "You might get there before me because I have to run an errand before I head home. The spare key is under the mat and the apartment is 12C on the sixth floor. Don't touch anything." he instructed as they each entered the cab. He told the cab driver, a man in his late forties who seemed to know Damian by his fake name, to take them to his apartment, then he walked off to where his motorcycle was waiting for him behind the diner.

"So, you know young Deema, eh?" the cab driver asked, his Canadian accent strong as he spoke. Dick nodded from where he sat in the front seat, cataloging the streets they passed in his head for future references. 

"You could say." he replied, loud enough for the driver to hear. The driver glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, taking a harsh right turn that had Tim gripping the door handle for dear life.

"You could say, eh?" he asked. Dick raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. 

"We knew him back when he was a brat." Jason explained from the back, chuckling as the driver took another harsh turn that had Time grappling for more leverage. The cab driver let a bark of laughter out, dark eyes scrunching up in delight.

"I can't see him as a little brat." the cab driver said in amusement. "He's such a nice guy that I can't see it." Tim and Jason shared a brief glance in the back seat, Jason raising an eyebrow at what the cab driver said.

"Is that so?" Jason asked softly, not meaning for the driver to overhear.

"Oh, yeah. He's helped me moved out quiet a bit, yeah." The driver nodded enthusiastically as he stopped suddenly in front of an apartment building. "Well, here ya' are! Tell Deema hi for me!" Dick tried turning around to pay the cab driver when he got out, but he drove off before he could pull out the money of his wallet. 

Jason whistled as he stared up at the apartment building, unimpressed by what he saw.

"Baby bat's sure has fallen hard from the good life." Jason said.

The apartment building was an old run down one with grates outside of the windows that some people have put flower pots in or hung wet clothes from. It wasn't pretty by any standards, if the garbage lining the side and the dusty windows were anything to go by. 

"That's for sure." Tim mumbled, being the first to walk toward the building.

It didn't take long to find Damian's apartment, but they were slowed down by the fact that even though they were ten years in the future, the apartment only had stairs and no elevator. Plus, they stopped and watched a woman with curlers in her hair throw stuff out at some fat guy, calling him a scum bag and cheater. Dick wanted to intervene and Jason wanted to get popcorn, Tim being the only reason they even got to Damian's apartment after much insisting and pulling on his part.

"Wow," Jason whistled once morewhen they stepped in, Tim placing the key back under the mat where they found it. "Kid really did fall from grace." he said as he looked around the apartment. It wasn't much, quite small with the only doors leading to a bathroom and coat closet.

On one corner near the far window was an old mattress with a few pillows and blankets covering it, clothes in a heap at the end of it. The kitchen was next to the closest window, next to the front door and coat closet. It had two counters, an old oven, a fridge, three cabinets, and a sink that had a few dirty plates in it. There was a couch on the other side of the apartment, back pushed up against the wall with a coffee table, but no TV. Instead there were old books piled around it and a laptop laying on one of the cushions, plugged up to a charger on the outlet near the couch.

"Alfred would have an aneurism if he saw this." Dick muttered at one glance over of the apartment. He did noticed it was kept pretty clean, or as clean as it could get with the stained ceiling and way off-white walls. 

"Good thing Pennyworth doesn't know about it then." They all startled at the voice, turning around to find Damian walking through the front door with a paper bag in hand, keys and bike helmet in the other. He hung the keys from a hook next to the door and set the helmet down on the coffee table.

"What do you mean Alfred doesn't know about it?" Tim asked, watching as Damian moved to the kitchen and set the paper bag on the counter, moving about to put the contents up. 

"Because Pennyworth doesn't even know where I am, much less that I even live in Canada." Damian said in exasperated tone. Jason moved to sit on the couch next to the laptop, stretching his arms above his head as he did so.

"What's the baby bat hiding from?" he joked, a smirk playing at the ends of his lips.

"I'm not hiding from anything." Damian snapped, closing a cabinet a little harshly as he did so. Tim crossed his arms and raised a doubtful eyebrow up at him.

"Is that so, Demetrius Whitemore?" he said pointedly. Damian turned around to glare at him, crumbling up the paper bag and throwing it into the trashcan next to the fridge.

"It's none of your business, and it'll stay none of your business just as soon as we figure out how to send you back to your own time." he grounded out, stomping over and yanking a book from Jason's curious hands.

"Why can't you tell us?" Dick asked, sounding hurt at his little brother's reaction towards them. Damian let out a long suffering sigh, running a hand through his combed hair as he closed his eyes tiredly. 

"You'll find out soon enough." he said, moving back to the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. 

"Or, maybe you can tell us so we can find our future selves and see if they can help out, too." Tim pointed out, staring Damian down as he glared at him. 

"No way is that happening, nor are any of you even contacting anyone that we know. We're going to find a way to send you back, and only us. No one else, understand?" Damian stared at each one of them pointedly. When he saw no defiance in any of their eyes, he angrily downed the water bottle. 

"Got any beer in that fridge?" Jason asked, perking up at the chance of alcohol.

"I don't like the taste much, so I don't drink it." he answered, Jason looking a little scandalous at the thought. 

"Are you even old enough?" Dick asked, shooting a glare at Jason. Damian shrugged a little, putting the rest of the almost empty water bottle back in the fridge.

"In Canada, I'm legal to drink." he said. "The drinking age is different here, I just choose not to drink." Damian smiled a little at the disappointed look Jason threw him. 

"Haven't I taught you anything?" Jason asked, a hand dramatically over his heart.

"The only thing you taught me was how to watch two seasons from a show in one sitting." Jason looked a little proud when he heard that, appeased that he taught Damian at least one thing as he relaxed back in the coach, nodding his head.

"I taught you good then." Tim rolled his eyes as he took the available space next to Jason.

"Can we focus on getting back to 2017, please?" he asked, attempting on getting them back on topic.

"Right," Dick nodded, turning to Damian. "Did you notice anything weird that's happened lately?" he asked. Damian frowned, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable.

"Um, no..." he trailed off, refusing to look either of them in the eye.

"Not on patrol, or anything?" Tim pushed, sensing something was off and trying to figure out what it was.

"That's the thing. I wouldn't know if something weird was happening because..." Damian looked away sheepishly. "... I don't patrol anymore. I'm no longer apart of that life." 

Silence echoed throughout the small apartment, the only thing being heard was a car alarm blaring down the street.


	3. In Tea Pots and Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this once more on my phone, but at school, but I feel like it's better than last chapter. Hope you enjoy!

"What do you mean you're no longer apart of that life?" Tim asked slowly, wondering if he heard him wrong. Damian looked uncomfortable, refusing to look at anyone in the eye as he shrugged his shoulders.

"The same reason why my name is now Demetrius Whitmore." he replied, voice uncharacteristically soft. "Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is getting you guys back to 2017." He went to go grab his laptop from the couch cushion, the air awkward as he did so.

"Why can't you tell us anything?" Dick asked, feeling a little angry and hurt, but more hurt than anything. Damian inhaled heavily, eyes closed as he did so.

"I can't tell you anything because it doesn't involve you yet." He said, turning back around and grabbing a teapot off the stove to make tea, abandoning the laptop for the moment in favour of good old tea.

"Just tell us one thing and then we'll leave you alone." Dick offered, trying to grasp for anything to learn what happened to his little brother. Damian's shoulders slumped in defeat as he turned around once the pot was on the stove.

"Fine, if it'll get you guys to shut up." He grumbled. "Let's leave it at this: a death happened and no one was the same after. I needed space, so I moved to Canada and got a new name." He shared. "There, happy?" A moment of awkwardness washed over the apartment as the occupants find they have nothing to say. Damian muttered something tiredly under his breathe to himself as he goes to sit on the mattress he uses as a bed. "Okay, listen, don't think too hard on who might've died. You'll hurt yourself." he told them. "We're obviously not going to be getting anywhere tonight, so we might as well just start tomorrow. I'm off for the next few days, thankfully. All of this will hopefully be resolved by the end of the week without any outside help." he said, looking at each one of them in turn with a raised eyebrow, daring one of them to speak up and protest. No one did, so Damian relaxed a little, turning to look out the window next to him.

"If we can't figure out how to resolve this by the end of the week." Tim said, gaining everyone's attention, including Damian's, who looked over in mild interest. "Then we should contact our future selves." Damian bristled like an alley cat, immediately standing up as if he was singed 

"You will do no such thing!" He hissed, his eyes seemingly glowing a little in the dim light of his apartment. "You either take my help where it is or you leave it and go to Gotham. But by no means, will you speak of me there, do you understand? I may no longer be apart of that life, but I still have ears." His voice was dark with an underlying of threats that weren't being spoken. Dick didn't know what to do. He was too stunned by the outburst to really say anything, and by the looks of it, so was Tim.

"Look, baby bat," Jason said, being the surprising savour in all of this. Damian glowered at him for the nickname, teeth baring just slightly, almost feral. "I don't know what's got your pink panties in a twist, but no one here will contact anybody, so you can just take it down a notch. You're up here," Jason gestured to the space above his head. "Let's bring it all the way down here, yeah?" He gestured to the floor with a grin. The whistling of the tea pot is the only thing that stopped Damian from pouncing on Jason, as he instead goes and fetches it before it wakes any of the neighbours.

"There's blankets in the closet." he finally said in a clipped tone as he makes himself tea. "The couch is a pullout, but can probably only hold two. One of you will have to sleep on the floor." He said, going to his laptop to take it to his mattress along with the cup of tea, purposely not meeting anyone's eyes as he did so. 

The three of them all share brief glances, feeling a little unsettled by the future Damian.

-.-.

The next morning, they found themselves being woken up by cars blasting their horns at each other because of traffic.

"Isn't this Canada where people are nice to each other?" Jason asked groggily from the floor, grimacing at the pain flaring up in his neck and back. He shifted a little when his hip decided to act up too, grumbling about something of floors shouldn't be this uncomfortable.

"You'd be surprised." Damian said from his mattress, sipping from a new cup of tea as he typed away on his computer. Jason rolled to his stomach, grunting about Canadians as he did so.

"What time is it?" Tim asked, voice muffled by the rough pillow he pressed his face in.

"Almost eleven." Damian answered. Tim groaned, snuggling deeper into the blankets, trying to get the last of sleep that was quickly fading.

A knock on the apartment door surprised them, Damian looking up in confusion. He set aside his cup of tea and laptop, going to the door with furrowed eyebrows.

"Who is it?" He asked, peering through the eyepiece.

"Really? You damn as well know who it is." said the voice on the other side, pausing for a brief moment. "Dude, did you forget again?" Damian let out a puff of air before unlocking the door and swinging it open, revealing a kid around his age in a red hoodie and ruffed up jeans.

"What are you doing here?" Damian asked as the kid pushed his way into the apartment, casting weird glances at the individuals laying about.

"You said we'd hang out today." The kid reminded. "Yo, Dee, who're they?" He asked, pointing towards Dick, Tim, and Jason. Dick was standing up now, stretching his stiff back as he peered at the new comer in interest. Damian sighed in defeat.

"They're family." He said briskly, before Dick had the opportunity to jump in. The kid raised an eyebrow, grinning a little.

"You're not some estrange hermit, I knew it!" He beamed happily. Damian frowned at him, eyebrows set heavy over his eyes.

"I'm Dick, it's nice to meet you." Dick said with a grin, stretching his hand out for the kid to take. The kid shook it with an even brighter smile than before.

"They call me Jessie." he greeted.

"Well, Jessie, these are my brothers, Jason and Tim." Dick introduced. Tim gave a moan of greeting from where he still has his face smashed in the pillow while Jason didn't bother making any type of noise. Jessie made a little wave to each of them even though he knew that they couldn't see him from their positions.

"Jessie, I hate to apologise, but I'm sorry I won't be able to hang out today. I'm a little busy seeing as I have family over." Damian said, gaining his friend's attention. Jessie opened his mouth to reply, but Dick found his chance to intervene.

"Oh, no, we don't mind at all. In fact," he said, grinning. "I'll love to learn how you and Jessie met, but over breakfast, of course." Jessie smiled happily at Dick while Damian scowled unhappily. 

"That'll be great! There's this place you really have to try! They have the best pancakes around!" From the floor, Jason perked up.

-.-.

The small restaurant was buzzing with activity as waitresses and waiters alike rushed about writing down orders and bringing out food and drinks. 

Jessie sat at Damian's side while Tim and Dick sat opposite to them, Jason taking the lonely edge of the table. 

"It's really great to meet you guys." Jessie said, looking at each one of them in turn. "Dee never talks about home or family, not even when we ask him." He lets out a little laugh as if he were telling an inside joke, but it was probably just because Damian was exerting this awkward air that Jessie was trying to eliminate. "The only thing I've managed to weasel out of him is that his middle name is Richard." Damian turned bright red at that, sitting stiffly in his chair as Dick felt a huge smile curling on his lips. Jason started to laugh, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe what he's hearing while Tim was snickering, shoulders shaking at the laughs he was trying to contain. 

"Is that so?" Dick asked around his uncontainable smile. 

"Grayson." Damian hissed in warning, but Dick takes no heed.

"Is that all you managed to get out of him?" Dick asked. Jessie thought before he gave a hesitant nod of his head.

"He's also mentioned the fact that he was rich, but I can't believe that." Jessie said with a small shake of his head.

"Oh, better believe it, kid." Jason snorts. Jessie turns to look at Damian.

"Wait, were you telling the truth?" He asked in disbelief. Damian looked uncomfortable as he gave a nod.

"When do I ever lie?" He asked. Jessie's eyes widen a little at that tidbit of information.

"But if you're rich," he started. "Then why don't you have a bed?" Damian rolled his eyes at the question.

"Because, obviously, I'm not rich now." He drawled, his earlier embarrassment easing out little by little. 

"Anyway," Tim said, changing the subject. "As Dick mentioned earlier, we'd like to know how you met Damia-Demetrius." Tim coughed, quickly correcting himself at the quick glare Damian gave him. "Because he never tells us anything and that's why we would like to know." he finished. Jessie smiled and nudged Damian's shoulder playfully, surprising the other three at the table when Damian didn't growl at him like a rabid animal. 

"Well," he started when he saw Damian open his mouth to intervene. "As cliche as it sounds, I found him in an alley on a rainy night."


	4. Of Old Rain and Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how Damian and Jessie met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry it's been a while! I just recently graduated high school and I've been busy since. This chapter is once again written on my phone because I'm too lazy to write it on my computer. It's fun reading all the speculations on which character who died so keep them coming! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

_Jessie glanced at the alleyway in hesitation. He knew it was a short cut to his apartment, but he didn't know if he should take it. A loud crack of thunder and lightening above decided for him, and he walked into the alleyway, clutching the handle of the umbrella harder._

_He looked about in suspicion, a frown etched on his face. He flinched when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. When he looked towards it, it looked nothing more than a black lump hunched in on itself, but when thunder and lightening clashed once more above, he saw it move, hugging itself tighter in what seemed like fear._

_"Hello?" Jessie asked, voice almost drowned out by the rain._

_Jessie stood there for a few beats of a second, waiting for a responds as rain and thunder continued to patter and shake around them. When it looked up, Jessie blinked in surprise, taking in a sharp inhale of breath._

_It was a boy no older than him, seventeen or eighteen, with bright green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the alleyway, unnaturally so. His skin was tan and his black hair short, sitting plastered to his forehead from the rain. He was cut up and bruised, and far too skinny then what he should be, wet clothes sticking to his frame. Jessie felt a stab of pity shoot through him when he noticed how badly the boy was shaking from the cold. It was November and the rain only made the days colder, forcing everyone to wear a heavy coat outside for shelter from the cold. But the kid wasn't wearing a coat, and the jacket on him was too light and torn in some places, showing bruised skin that sat vulnerable to the rain and cold._

_"What's your name?" Jessie asked the kid, voice low as he stood under his umbrella._

_The kid continued to stare up at him with his unnerving green, glowing eyes, shivering harshly with teeth clattering._

_Jessie looked around, eyebrows drawn together. "Do you live around here?" he tried, looking back at the kid. But the kid just continued to stare at him Jessie wouldn't be surprised if he was one of those homeless kids roaming the street, there were a lot of them here, so it wouldn't come as a shock._

_Finally, Jessie sighed softly, looking the kid over once more. "My apartment isn't too far away." he said. "Would you like to come and get out of the rain to dry up? Maybe after some warm tea you'll tell me your name." he offered with a smile._

_The kid continued to just stare up at him as Jessie stretched out his hand for him to take, waiting patiently as the glowing green eyes traveled to his palm, curiously. It seemed like a millennia, but the kid finally stretched out his own hand and laid it onto Jessie's, letting him pull him up gently and place him under the umbrella._

_The walk to Jessie's apartment went by slowly, for the kid didn't want to walk too fast and Jessie felt that he would scare him away if he tried to speed their pace. By the time they entered through the threshold of Jessie's apartment, the kid's chattering teeth was slightly better without rain and wind hitting him every chance it got._

_"Hold on, I might have clothes that can fit you." Jessie said, setting down the umbrella by the door and moving about his apartment. He found a pair of old sweatpants in his room and an old red shirt that Jessie was positive it once belonged to his brother._

_When he came back out to the main part of the apartment, the kid was still standing there, dripping rain water onto his living room rug._

_He looked up when Jessie came in with the clothes, his green eyes that were once brightly glowing in the alleyway looking dimmer, but they still glowed unnaturally so, which unnerved Jessie a little._

_"The bathroom's right down the hall." Jessie pointed, handing him the clothes. The kid stared down at the clothes in his hands blankly, as if he didn't know what to do with them, but thankfully he started towards the bathroom without much prompting._

_Once Jessie heard the click of the bathroom door closing, he let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding. Something was off about the kid, something odd and unnerving that Jessie just couldn't put his finger on. All that Jessie did know was that the kid was most likely homeless and starving, plus he had the weirdest green eyes known to man. He shrugged it off as he went about making some dinner, thinking the kid could probably use a good meal by seeing how thin he looked._

_Jessie was in the middle of microwaving a sweet and sour chicken dish (he couldn't cook for the life of him and he wasn't about to kil the poor kid) when the kid walked out of the bathroom, looking far drier then he did before, though his hair still sat plastered to his forehead and dripping._

_"You can sit down if you want." Jessie offered, making a gesture to the table. The kid moved to sit down, looking a little out of place as he did. "Do you like sweet and sour chicken?" he asked, though no responds came. "I'm going to take that as a yes, alright?" Jessie didn't expect an answer and he didn't receive one._

_He set the food in front of the kid with a fork once it was done and sat down with his own. "What's your name?" he tried to ask again. The kid looked at him, a slight frown drawn on his face._

_"It's, uh..." he seemed to stammer, trying to find the words. His voice was hoarse as if he hadn't spoke in a while, but Jessie was mostly shocked at hearing him talk in the first place._

_"It's Damia-" he stopped himself, shaking his wet head like a dog to expel whatever thought he had. "Demetrius." He seemed to decide on. "It's Demetrius Whitemore."_

-.-.

"Then our friendship bloomed like flowers in spring!" Jessie finished just as the waitress came over with their food. Jason perked up at his large stack of pancakes quiet happily, while Damian looked annoyed.

"Why are you so dramatic?" he grumbled. "You took twenty minutes on telling a story you could've told in five. There was no need in describing how I 'stared unnervingly green, glowing eyes, shivering harshly with teeth chattering'." Damian said. "You could've just said that we met in an alleyway, you took me to your apartment, and the rest is history."

"That's no fun, now is it?" Jessie countered through a mouth full of eggs and pancakes.

"It's straight to the point with unneeded babble." Damian stabbed at his plate with a little force that a loud 'clank' resounded, Dick wondering how the plate didn't break under such force.

"The real question is," Jason said, just barely swallowing his own pancakes. "why were you in an alleyway in the middle of the night? _Hmm_?" He was trying to play it off by teasing with a light smirk on his lips, but Damian just glared at him, hating that he even dared to ask.

"Why do you cry every time you watch Titanic?" he shot back. Jason looked every bit of the word flabbergasted as he blinked at Damian.

" _How do you_ know?" he staged whispered. A slight smile tugged at Damian's lips as he raised his eyebrow.

"I have my ways." Damian leaned back as Jason continued to look at him as if he couldn't believe him.

"It's a sad ending." Jason said, shrugging when Tim and Dick gave him a look. "Who wouldn't cry?" he asked defensively, stuffing pancakes into his mouth so they wouldn't ask him more questions.

"So, you're Dee's family, right?" Jessie asked, changing the subject. Dick nodded in confirmation. "So, what are you? Brothers? Distant cousins?"

"We're his big brothers!"

"Cousins. Distant cousins. _Very_ distant cousins."

Dick and Damian spoke at the same time, speaking above each other. Damian gave Dick a look that told him to shut up and let him handle the situation.

"We're cousins." Damian clarified. "I haven't seen them since I was ten." he added for extra measure. Dick opened his mouth to say something when they were interrupted.

"Well, I'll be darn. It's lil' ol' Demetrius." said a heavy southern drawl. A groan escaped from Damian as he almost smashed his plate with his own head.


	5. Of Adams and Someone New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is a jackass, which is obvious, but apparently he has information for Damian. Who is this guy apparently looking around town for Damian? And by the looks of it, Damian knows him, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might seem a little rush but that's because it is. At this point the story feels likes some kind of soap opera to me because of all the dramatic entries and realisations. Anywho, hope you enjoy'

_"Well, I'll be darn. It's little ol' Demetrius."_

Dick looked up to see a man maybe around the age of twenty-five with joyful light brown eyes and scraggy hair. He was muscular as if he spent most of his time doing some kind of manual labor.

"Adam." Damian said shortly as the man gave him a rough pat on his back. "I thought you left for Kentucky two weeks ago." he said dryly as Adam pulled up a chair to the table and sat on it backwards, draping his arms over the back of it.

"I did." Adam agreed. "But I had to come on back." He flagged the waitress down and quickly asked for a cup of coffee. "Who're them fellows?" he asked, gesturing to Dick, Tim, and Jason.

"His cousins." Jessie said quickly, looking just as annoyed as Damian was. "Why'd you come back?" Adam quirked an amused smile at Jessie.

"Jus' 'cuz I wanted to." Was the only thing he supplied as the waitress set his coffee down in front of him. "What are them three cousis names?"

"When are you going back?" Damian instead asked. Dick glanced down to where he could see Damian's hand on the table and watched as he curled and uncurled his fingers.

"Geez Louis, what is this? Twenty questions?" Adam asked as he took a drink from his coffee with a laugh. "Can't a guy just enjoy his coffee?"

"There is no enjoying coffee when you push a guy off his motorcycle and into a rushing river!" Jessie finally snapped. Dick and Tim stared at him with wide eyes while Jason paused in eating his pancakes as the conversation turned interesting.

"He's alive, ain't he?" Adam asked, gesturing towards Damian lamely. "He jus' gotta little waterlogged is all."

"I broke my leg and got a sprained wrist. Plus, it was the middle of January. I got pneumonia." Damian shot back. Adam rolled his eyes.

"You lived." he said with a shrug.

"What the hell?!" Jessie all but screamed. "That doesn't mean it's okay to push someone off a moving motorcycle and into a river!"

"I was going 144kmh. _I'm_ surprised I didn't die." Damian added, glaring at Adam who put his hands up in surrender.

"The real question _is_ : why _were_ you going 144kmh?" he raised his eyebrows at Damian.

"I was late for work. But you made me miss work. _For three weeks_." Damian hissed in anger. "I was late with rent because of _you_." Adam made a dismissive gesture with his hand and opened his mouth to say something, but Jason cut in before he could.

"Hey, kid who-I-think-name-is-Allen-but-not-entirely-sure-because-I-haven't-been-listening-in-for-the-whole-conversation, why the hell are you still here?" Jason asked, pointing his fork at him and managing to flick the syrup on it onto Tim's face. Tim scowled unhappily at Jason as he wiped off the syrup, but Jason continued to look at Adam questionably. "It's obvious no one wants you here. So why don't you move along back to Jackass Ville so I can continue enjoying my lovely pancakes without your ugly ass mug interfering." Jason made another gesture with his fork before he went back to his pancakes.  
  
"And who are ya'?" Adam asked, face unnaturally blank.

"The name's none of your business, that's what it is." Jason mumbled through his pancakes. Adam look thoroughly annoyed, but Dick jumped in before a fight could occur between the two.

"Adam, right?" Dick asks, getting a nod as Adam's attention turned to him. "It's very obvious that Deema isn't that fond of you, along with Jessie, for that matter." Damian rolled his eyes and Jessie grumbled something under his breath. "So, before anything turns real unpleasant, why don't you just go?" Dick asks. Adam raised an eyebrow at Dick and straightened in his seat.

"Fine." he said stiffly. "I'll go." He looked around the table almost dramatically as he goes to stand. "I had just thought Deema would like to know a bit of information I heard." Damian scowled at Adam.

"And what type of information would that be?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Some guy came into town askin' 'bout you. An American by the sounds of it, and he obviously has been lookin' for you for some time now." Adam said, crossing his arms. "Wouldn't give me his name, before he hurried off to God knows where." Damian looked confused with the given information, but looked intrigued nonetheless.

"What did he look like?" he ended up asking. Adam scrunched his face up as he thought about it for a moment.

"Dark hair in obvious need of a cut with blue eyes and kinda scrawny and pale. If anything he looked like he needs a good night sleep and a good meal in him, but I ain't his mama so I wasn't about to tell him that." Adam said. Damian went considerably pale at the new information with Adam squinting his eyes at him before he shook his head and left without a good-bye.

"You know him?" Jessie asked, curious. Damian pushed his plate of food away from him and went to stand up, Jessie and the others following in heed.

"You know him, squirt?" Jason asked, attention finally off the pancakes, but mostly because he had just finished them and there was none left.

"You could say." Damian said shakily. "We have to go. Sorry, Jessie, but I'll have to reschedule for another day." Damian left suddenly, but not before he put a wad of bills on the table.

Dick, Tim, and Jason were all left staring at Jessie with wide eyes and confusion.

"Well," Jason said. "Looks like that's our leave." He gave Jessie a smile as he went to follow Damian out the door with Tim and Dick on his heels.

"What's going on?" Tim asked once they finally caught up to Damian, who was walking at a considerably fast pace.

"We have to figure out a way to get you guys home and fast. As in, today fast." he said.

"Damian, who is it?" Dick asked as they rounded a corner onto a semi crowded street. Damian looked ready to respond when he stopped suddenly, going even paler if possible.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. Dick followed his line of sight to see what caught his attention. Standing at a bus stop was a man in his mid to late twenties with messy dark hair held in a pony tail and blue eyes. He was wearing a red hoodie and jeans, but it was obvious how skinny he was from even this distance.

"Is that..." Dick started, squinting his eyes at the guy as recognition slowly flooded his eyes. Tim turned to see what Dick was looking at to have the same slow realisation as him.

"... Me?"


End file.
